None of the parties specified how much the deal, which came following a tender on Tejari.com, was worth or how long it would take for the vehicles to enter service.

“We released a tender via Tejari.com to buy 1,100 sedans from Al-Futtaim Motors, one of the main suppliers of DTC’s fleet which consists of 3504 vehicles,” said Dr Yousef Al Ali, CEO of DTC.

“In the framework of this cooperation which dates for more than 16 years, we believe this agreement will further strengthen and consolidate our strategic partnership, whilst increasing the Toyota share of the DTC fleet to 86 percent. Toyota's strength lies in its legendary performance, quality, durability and reliability of its vehicles, all of which are essential requirements for taxi operations,” Dr Al Ali added.

“Our hybrid technology, which is leading the sustainable mobility world-wide has gained the trust of DTC over the last few years and we are extremely pleased with the renewal of our cooperation where 20 new Camry Hybrid will be put to the test by DTC’s restless drivers,” added Simon Frith, managing director of Al Futtaim Motors.

“This will help us contribute to a cleaner environment and further reinforce our position as a responsible automotive partner.”

DTC is spending so much of money buying the taxis, i hope they set aside a little bit of that to train the cab drivers - driving a cab in Dubai is not F1 racing and to drive sanely and safely, respect road laws and not think they own the roads. So many more to be listed, but last 3-4 experiences in a taxi, please be hygenic and have them shower...the stench is horrible!

Am I the only person wondering why RTA has specified less than 2% of the new fleet purchase as hybrids? Last week they were claiming to be committed to sustainable vehicle specifications following a successful trial period...